ABSTRACT
Kinshasa occupies a loop in the river, an alluvial plain bordered by sandy hills on which any human settlement remains precarious because of the erosive tendency of the land. Kinshasa has retained the specialized character of its original neighborhoods and has flowed out to occupy, in successive stages, the whole of the site. Only seven percent of household heads were born in Kinshasa; the rest come from the interior, sixty percent directly from the countryside. Yet from 1971 to 1975, Kinshasa has expanded more from natural growth than from migration. The road network in Kinshasa is poorly developed. Immigration in Kinshasa is much more influenced by populations originating in Kasai, for whom maize constitutes the staple food. In terms of the distribution of food produce, Kinshasa markets of different levels may be identified, without counting the floating markets which grow up around the presence of certain activities.
